December 21, 2012

In many ways it's wonderful to be working in a creative agency right now, because we have never had so many options open to us. Do a TV ad, fund a TV programme, outdoor, interactive outdoor, page take-overs, live stunts, webcasts, carnivals, Google Earth mash-ups, inventing new sports. Sometimes, God forbid, a press ad.

But having virtually unlimited choice of WHAT to do won't guarantee great results, in fact quite the opposite. All that choice merely means we have a greater opportunity to do something really stupid, or even worse, pointless.

Until we even begin to consider WHAT, we need to ensure we have a really great WHY. That starts with business objectives, it doesn't start with trawling Contagious or Wired for something to copy because it would be 'really great'.

Basically, get a clear business objective and translate into a clear behavioural objective- who you want to influence and what you want them to do.That's the WHY.

For example, "Increase penetration amongst 18-30's by creating a new usage occasions for our premium butter" might translate into 'Get people into eating toast as a brilliant mid-morning work snack'

Only then, dig into the WHAT - which should be informed by what you're audience cares about, what media they consume,what drives their relationships, what creates social currency etc.

For example, people in offices tend to gossip around the toaster, perhaps we could dramatise what happens when you miss the crucial office gossip. Or forget the office cliche and dig into the double life young people of this age live- they take work more seriously than previous generations, therefore feel more pressure to be seen to be letting their hair down.There's a lovely tension to play with there, which is a little similar to Clark Kent /Superman thing.

Anyway.

In any case, while it needs to be insanely great, interesting and provacative to cut through the clutter and apathy, if that isn't wedded to actual business needs, and what people care about, it's just indulgence.

December 19, 2012

I really enjoyed the Hobbit film, mostly because the book means so much to me. I read the book when I was eight and it was magical, I still adore it and look forward to reading it to my kids.

I have to admit I'm a slight geek about Tolkien stuff, but not so much is a Dungeons and Dragons manner.

It's more to do with the way the books make me feel something, they manage to blend hope, joy extreme darkness and a beatiful sense of bravery in the face of much sorrow for paradise lost.

It's a lot to do with how the books make me feel like a child again.

But it's mostly do with the way the Hobbit's, especially Bilbo, are US. Decent, normal people forced to do frightnening, extraordinary things. They show there is greatness in everyone.

As Philip French mentioned, Bilbo and the other Hobbits are low mimetic heroes - normal people plucked out of their lives, who will go back to it afterwards. People we can identify with, who we can 'live' the story with, they are our eyes in the world we are shown.

As opposed to the 'high memetic' Thorin or Gandalf in the Hobbit, or Aragorn in LOTR- people who are better than ordinary people, they remain extraordinary whatever happens to them.

When it comes to the people you portray in advertising and stuff, it's really worth considering if you're characters and overall narrative are about the high or low mimetic.

Or both.

For example, I'd say that most of the women in beaty ads are high mimetic which means that many women might not identify with them, whereas the Dove women are low mimetic rebelling against the impossibility of high mimetic.

The real idea behind the Lynx effect plays with it: low mimetic, ordinary blokes, enabled to live a high mimetic life as long as they use Lynx. While, in the same category, the Old Spice guy is high mimetic- but laced with irony.

Most fashion is all about the fantasy of high mimetic- maybe too much so.

Look at the crass high memetic of most travel advertising compared with visit Wales.

Now,coming back to Lynx, it feels really interesting territory to play with the low mimetic more.

Because the mistake many brands make is to just replay back the humdrum of everyday life to show we 'get you'. I don't really like the Asda Xmas ads because of this, although I could be wrong, I'd love to know if Mum's respond to being portrayed as ordinary people performing extraordinary things. Or just go, oh, another brand who thinks my life is all toil.

As opposed to this lovely Lurpak stuff, which manages to not do the 'Mums' cliche.

Look at Indiana Jones- he works because of his very human ordinaryness, he gets hurt and makes mistakes, despite existing in a fantasy world.

Threepio and Artoo are droids in Star Wars,but really, they are us, ordinary jobsworths thrust into chaos.

The rejuvenation of Batman and Spiderman were all about making them normal, confused people who happen to be superheroes. Superman works because of the low mimetic Clark Kent.

All examples of well loved 'magical' stuff we utterly identify with because of the humanity and recognition of our own lives. The hope that can be us, and is, but not in such a grandiose way.

Worth thinking about.

One final thing. Maybe one way to cut through all that brand onion/pyramid/wheel rubbish is to ask yourself, is this brand itself a high mimetic character we all look up to? Or is a plucky everyday hero? Is one of us?

December 11, 2012

For reasons I won't bore you with I'm spending lots of time in London, which for most visitors means navigating The Tube, to get from a to b as quickly as possible, but for me means getting as close to the people in the streets as possible.

For creative (or would be creative) types the Tube means missing a golden opportunity. Because being throwing yourself right into the over crowded, multi-faceted pace andm let's face it, grind of the city is a precious source of creative inspiration. The noise, the overheard conversation, the sights, the sheer sensory overload.

Being right amongst all those people, the friction of them piled on top of each other is the constant jolt to the system that makes cities THE engines of creativity. Yes, part of that is the fantastic opportunuties for serendipity, but much of is is the sensory smack in the face that keeps your mind awake and wide open. It feeds the subconcious with all sorts of stuff to bubble up later

So every now and then, don't descend into the faceless Tube, get the bus, talk a walk or hire a bike. When there's so much happening around you, take the time to notice.

That said, I do have some sort of approach that has emerged, when I say it, people seem to nod their head. Probably because I'm quoting others.

I wrote this for something or other:

Behind every business problem is a very human behavioural problem you need to change. The art of strategy is making people care enough to behave differently

When they don't want to be sold to anymore, if they ever did, we need to start with what they're interested in and work back from there. Real problems and tensions in real lives

So we should stop thinking of them as consumers and start thinking of them as actors and fellow protagonists in our ideas and content, because that’s the key to engaging with the few to create cultural noise with the many

Which is critical because the many - light buyers - are the key to brand growth and they simply don't care

Therefore simply outspending the competition, or expecting people to pay attention, is not just a failure of imagination and a willingness to understand what motivates people, it is also commercial suicide

Bbecause in world where people have better things to do, the enemy isn't the rest of the category - it's indifference

I think those are kind of the core principles. Not earth shattering, but at least, if you ever have the misfortune to work with me, you know what you'll be getting.